Some nice maltiness on the nose and some christmas spices. Some familiar Macallan notes but dialled back slightly. The taste was slightly sweet, smooth with vanilla and then a little sour note. The sour note turns into a more bitter, familiar oak note in the finish, then dries out leaving caramel and tobacco to linger for a long spicy finish. Tasted neat I found this had some balance issues, the subtle notes in the taste were overwhelmed by the spicy finish and subsequent tastes did not reveal much more... however I suspect this is a Macallan targetted at "scotch on the rocks drinkers" particularly in USA. I even recall marketing material at The Macallan distillery showing the Fine Oak expressions being drunk with ice while Sherry Oak was sipped neat. Addition of lots of ice would tone down that finish (or to put it another way the spice would hold up against the ice) and make this a very different dram. Not that's there is anything wrong with that but for me I rarely drink scotch on the rocks so it is a 2 star.
